03/11/2014

It's spring already and the birds are nesting everywhere. There's a very aggressive mocking bird in the neighborhood that has it in for our cats. There's also the neighbor's cat Floyd, who hangs out on our back steps with his nose to the crack under the door singing love songs to my lady cats, who hate him. The cats want to go out and enjoy the afternoon when I come home, but they're driven back in the house almost immediately by the birds and the neighbor cat. He sits on the back steps staring and singing, so they go out the front door. The birds are waiting for them outside and dive bomb them.

I thought I'd go out and enjoy the day too, and maybe play bodyguard. I'm writing this on the patio with two mockingbirds squawking threats at Floyd, who's hiding under a chair. He isn't stupid, just clueless about women. Lelu ran onto the patio to escape the birds. But then she saw Floyd, hiss hiss.

Then when the wind changes direction it brings us the fragrance of the seven puppies who live in back of us. There should be some industrial use for their effluvia. You could light your home with it but you'd have to sit out in the dark because the smell is so intense. The neighbors clean up after them, but there's only so much you can do with that many little dogs.

The birds have gone off to rob some liquor stores, and now Floyd is rubbing his face on my foot, which is scandalizing Lelu. I'm cheating on her with her enemy. This won't keep her from demanding food when we go back inside.

Here's poor innocent victim Lelu resting in between bird attacks. You can almost see Floyd's little black head sticking up towards the upper right. He's on the porch waiting for love, or food or something.

Nature is brutal, but it doesn't leave time for philosophy. I have to go break up another cat fight.

10/21/2013

I haven't had one for a couple of years until last Thursday afternoon when I realized it wasn't just allergies anymore. It's always a shock to remember how awful it feels when you're sick. I took Friday off, added to the weekend it gave me a good rest. I read a lot and slept when I needed to. I can do physical things for a little while, then I need to rest.

I haven't been sewing in the evenings. The cats take turns sitting on my lap. They seem to have some kind of time share arrangement. Like most of the things cats do it follows rules, but I can't figure out what they are.

The other night I fell asleep with Mimi on my lap. When I woke up Lelu was on me. I must have been really tired because I don't know when they switched.

I do some work on the caftan from time to time. It's coming along very slowly. It's fun thinking of what I want to do around the neck once I get these blue stripes sewn over the shoulders and down the sides. Sometimes I think about Mexican embroidered blouses with big bright flowers and birds. I've been looking at kantha bedspreads from India. They have a different kind of folk embroidered flowers. Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal Both kinds of decorations could be done as applique. It will turn out to be something I can't imagine right now, but I want some kind of flowers. I see many kinds of red in my mind's eye. It will be fun, and when I get something done I'll share.

06/23/2012

Freud should have asked that question instead of asking what women want. At least women have the power to tell him what they want. Cats just look at you with exasperation and circle their food dishes like little sharks.

An internet friend asked what makes my cats happy. World domination is my cat's goal, but being fed 300 times a day will do instead. They like catnip, they like to sleep a lot since they're older.They like to be petted, played with, ignored, and let in and out of the house many times a day. Sometimes Lelu wants me to follow her around while she walks around the house meowing. I take tiny steps while she tells me all about something, who knows what. It's a way of socializing, she's very chatty.

I'm surprised at how much stress they have in their lives. You can tell by their ears. When their ears are forward they're happy and interested. When their ears are halfway back they're scared or doubtful. They only put their ears flat to their heads when they're mad enough to fight. You can watch their thoughts by watching them and their ears. Lelu is looking out the door. She's calm and happy, her ears are forward. She sees a bird, and she crouches forward. She sees a dog, her ears go halfway back and she glances behind her to see where she can run if it comes toward her. If you've ever watched them stand in front of an open door you can see how their desires and doubts go through their minds. "Oh, outside! Want to go. Wait, there might be a bad animal." She looks, smells, looks some more with her ears moving backwards and forwards depending on what she's remembering, seeing and sensing. Then if it looks safe she'll go out. If not she won't.

I was doing walking aerobic exercises for a while. The younger cat would come in and yell at me, "Would you cut it out? I can't sleep with all that stomping going on." Or she wonders why I'm playing like that and not playing with her instead. She loves to play, but she gets tired now. She lays on the rug and waits for me to throw the toy directly to her, plays a little while, then wants to be petted.

This is Mimi who sometimes wants to sleep in front of the computer monitor. She finds a place to sleep and nothing will move her. Being older she's more experienced, and looks for places where she won't get stepped on. Dark cats on a dark rug are a hazard to traffic and to themselves.

These are a few of my thoughts on the subject. I have no idea what the cat's thoughts are. I do know Lelu wants me to get out of her chair now. Tom's going to have to fight her for it.

01/30/2012

I was sitting on the couch doing nothing yesterday when our neighbor cat Floyd stuck his nose in the open door. I clapped my hands to scare him out, that got Lelu running to see who it was. I'm sure her nose told her. Floyd ran out and around the corner of the house where he peeped and peeped at us. Here's Lelu getting ready to go out there and kick his butt. I closed the door so they didn't fight, this time.

Afterwards Floyd followed Tom around the yard and watched him work, all friendly and calm like he was a good cat. He doesn't know why he can't jump out from under cars and bite my cats. He doesn't know why he can't come in and eat their food. He has no social skills, and very poor boundaries. But he sure is pretty!

01/17/2012

My friend Kim came up with that question. Someone had been painting lots of pictures of and in Paris and noticed that there was always a lot of pink on her palette. That got her thinking that towns could have their own color schemes. Kim loved it, and started taking pictures and thinking about what color her town is. I got interested too and we noticed things are different colors on different days and in different weather. Many things contribute to it. She lives on Puget Sound, so huge bodies of water, sky, and pine trees are the main colors. Water and sky have so many moods. Her photos are very rich.

Here's one of mine. It's always white gray and blue here. No pink at all except at sunrise and sunset. I can't see what kind of birds they are. They're too far away. It's nice and wintry.

09/28/2011

We have a neighbor cat named Floyd. I'm sure Pretty Boy is his first name. He really is pretty with his sleek black fur, and those pale silvery green eyes. I always call cats like that Moon Eyes. He's short dark and handsome. If I were a lady cat I'd be all over him, but my cats are not impressed.

Isn't he dreamy? He sits in our drive way and waits for Lelu and Mimi to come out. Then he stares and stares at them. I can't figure out what he wants. It drives them buggy. They ignore him as long as they can.

Then after awhile they can't stand it anymore and I hear a bunch of hissing and yeowling and have to go break it up.

08/09/2011

I'm getting my energy back. I was really busy and active Saturday, pooped out on Sunday, and was raring to go again yesterday. I got a lot of cleaning done before and after work. It's good, and my kitchen is so clean I barely recognize it. Now I should... Oh never mind. I got muscle tired, but that's ok. It feels so good to move around. No more of the cell tiredness like the kind you get when you have a bad cold. I hope that's gone now, or will be soon.

We have friends in South London who sent us email about the riots. Things were burning three miles from their house. I was afraid for them, but it looks like the rioters are more interested in looting than in burning people's houses. I hope that's true, and I hope their police can figure out who is sending the twitter messages that are calling everyone to come and riot. It's so strange to have riots organized by facebook and twitter.

I spread out my quilt blocks Sunday meaning to take pictures. Lelu jumped up right away, smelled them all, and curled up for a nice nap. So my photo session turned out to be about her. She isn't squinting with sneakiness in that one picture. Cats close their eyes like that when they're smiling.

I've got fourteen and a half blocks done. It covers a good chunk of the bed now. It's coming along more slowly than before, but it's still coming along.